Iraq War for Oil

We went to war in Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction, right? No, it was to bring Democracy to the Middle East. Before the war started a bunch of leftwingnuts thought we went to war for oil. Oh no! They were correct. You won't read or hear about it in the USA, but BBC and reporter Greg Palast have proven that plans for use of Iraqi oil were in place well before the bombing of Iraq began. Copies of official documents can be found here. This just blows me over. Our president and his administration can tell lie after lie after lie every day and is never called to account for it. Questioning any possible lie would be unpatriotic and maybe treasonous. After all, we were long ago told to "watch what we say". Well I say those that don't question this president are the unpatriotic and treasonous ones. I'm sick and tired of lies being told to 'defend' our country. I don't want people being held forever, with no charges, in my name. I don't want people being sent to Egypt or Syria to be tortured using my tax dollars. Hard to believe this president is the 'Christian' president.

Rooftop Highway

Another pet peeve. The Rooftop highway. They've been talking about a 4 lane highway running from Watertown to Plattsburgh since the 60's. Now, several more millions of dollars have been allocated by the Federal Gov't to 'study' the issue some more. A rooftop highway running from the western edge of NY to Bangor Maine isn't a bad idea. I don't think it needs to be a 4 lane highway, a 2 lane, wide shouldered, limited access highway would be just as useful. While building the highway they could also lay a high speed fiber optic communication system which the North country badly needs. Maybe if they built it, people would come an use it. But damn! It's time to stop spending millions of dollars 'studying' the issue and decide something.

Wind Farms in the North Country

What could be better than nice clean wind generated electricity? Wind farms have been proposed for the Ellenburg and Malone areas. Ok, those giant propellers have some esthetic problems. They are huge! Two hundred feet (or more) high with prop arms of 90 ft. I guess they do mess up the sky line but worse than the towers, for me at least, are the power lines that need to be built. Nothing is uglier than power lines. But not to worry. The good folks of Malone believe that Wind Generators cause health problems. And, this has been verified by a local retired history professor and his 'behavioral' pediatrician wife. Supposedly the low frequency noise can cause a lot of depression in people. A quick search of Medline and a google search doesn't really support those claims however. Remember when people thought high tension wires caused cancer in people who lived near them? Haven't heard much from those folks lately. Well, no matter what the issue here in the Adirondacks, 50% of the people will support it and the rest will oppose it. Pretty much the reason nothing ever gets done.

Arizona and Kenya

My daughter left for Arizona on Fri with the rest of her college track team. I'm told they will arrive 1 AM eastern time and will have to get up on Sat morning in time to get to an 11 AM track meet. Tuesday is scheduled for a trip to the Grand Canyon. We were also told she was accepted into the Kenya semester for next Fall. That should be a great experience because it includes living for a week each with a rural family and a family in Nairobi. Excitement all around.